Tires Why not fill front tires?

[jddotson]

I found out (so I thought) that my front tires were loaded shortly after I bought my used JD4510 when checking tire pressures. After reading this thread I decided to unload the front tires and see how it worked out. Tonight I discovered that I had one loaded front tire and one that was not! I also realized that there was a slight tread difference in the front tires so I'll assume that the imbalance probably occurred during a tire change.

 

[firemanpat2910]

I had the fronts filled on my 2 wheel drive ford 2910. It kept the front end down when loading on trailer, and when I had the big disc harrow on the back. I never had any trouble with front end wear, or issues when "roading it" from the farm to the house in town.

 

[TechJ]

Got a Bota 2600 and after many flats (clearing up after the Californai Cedar fire) finally foam filled front & rear -- probbaly one of the best things I've done. After 4 yrs no problems, better traction, lower center of gravity, etc. Only downside is that the ride is pretty rough on paved srufaces but I don't spend much time on those.

 

[jcmseven]

I had a JD 4520 which I filled the rears and the fronts with Rim Guard. I could tell a difference in uphill pulling of my box blade with the fronts filled. I think the primary reason the fronts do not get filled is they just do not hold very much, so it is not worth it. One has to have a larger tractor with larger tires to make it justifiable. I recall my 4520 held about 5 gallons of ballast in each front, so almost 50# per tire. I noticed this also when plowing snow with my 7' boom mounted blade. It seemed the front would steer a bit better. They will also track better in slick mud with fluid ballast in them, especially with R4's. I never had trouble, and honestly 50# worth of weight in this sized tractor places very little additional wear on the front axle. This might not hold true on smaller machines.

John M

 

[Gary Fowler]

I would say it is totally personal preference. You will get a few pounds of extra weight with ballasted front tires. We always put ballast in the fronts on the large farm tractors which had 11 or 12 Inch wide tires that were nearly waist high so they held a lot of water, probalbly as much as the little compact tractor hold in the rear. We never had any problems with steering or with front end wear, but those were much larger tractors and built to carry much more weight.
I just widened my tires out on the front and when I get some time, I plan to fill them with antifreeze/water mixture both front and rear. I need the extra traction that it will provide for about what 2 cast iron weights will cost, I can ballast all the tires.
The best answer is what ever you want to do and if if makes you feel more comfortable, go for it. I personally dont think there is an issue with steering or with compression because you still have air in at least 1/4th of the tire so you still have the necessary give and flex and we never had any problems with any of our tractors with ballasted tires. My Dad ran ballast in all his tractors from 8N -9000 Fords and never had an issue with steering or wearing of front end.

 

[RobJ]

Let's see loaded front tires, wear out ball joint end faster as they need more leverage to turn the wheels.

It will wear out the front drive pieces faster because of the added weight.
It will take more fuel to move the unit.
If a gear drive will require the clutch to be slipped more to get started.

I don't think it'll do any of the above.

It'll add little weight if you have a small tractor.
The ground surface contact is still small so not that much friction is added (if any).
No additional weight is added to the wheel bearings, unless you start bouncing the front end.
Again the rolling friction might go up a nano amount unless you travel up hill both ways. ...ever rolled a wood floor with one of those 6" diameter solid steel rollers, about 150#. They roll pretty easy, harder up hill, easy down hill, hard as heck to pick up!

IMO you add more stress to the front end by adding weights, loaders, etc. This puts more stress on everything from the ground up to the weight. If you drive this tractor on a real bumpy road, fast all the time, then you might add some stress to the drivetrain. But if you are just doing normal tasks, IMO not any problem.

Personally I'd load the fronts solid for one purpose, flats. Problem is on my tractor I don't have any problem with front flats. Ok guess who'll have a flat this weekend!

 

[art]

I don't think it'll do any of the above.

It'll add little weight if you have a small tractor.
The ground surface contact is still small so not that much friction is added (if any).
No additional weight is added to the wheel bearings, unless you start bouncing the front end.
Again the rolling friction might go up a nano amount unless you travel up hill both ways. ...ever rolled a wood floor with one of those 6" diameter solid steel rollers, about 150#. They roll pretty easy, harder up hill, easy down hill, hard as heck to pick up!

IMO you add more stress to the front end by adding weights, loaders, etc. This puts more stress on everything from the ground up to the weight. If you drive this tractor on a real bumpy road, fast all the time, then you might add some stress to the drivetrain. But if you are just doing normal tasks, IMO not any problem.

Personally I'd load the fronts solid for one purpose, flats. Problem is on my tractor I don't have any problem with front flats. Ok guess who'll have a flat this weekend!

As a dealer I love your reponse! Keep working for me!!!!!!

 

[IslandTractor]

As a dealer I love your reponse! Keep working for me!!!!!!

Art, how many CUTs with less than several thousand hours have you ever had to replace ball joints on? I don't believe I've ever seen a post on TBN regarding worn out ball joints so this is just new to me. I am sure it is an issue with older machines with many thousands of hours and decades of service but is this really a reason not to load fronts? I'm wondering if you rebuild engines more often than front suspensions. Is it the light weight Kubotas with this issue or do heavier machines also have the problem?

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I ended up foam filling my fronts as I use the tractor to skid tree's out of the woods. Plus I didn't want to get a flat out in the middle of the woods and try to cart a tire out from the booney's. I think the foam added about 160lbs to each tire.

 

[Solo]

I have the fronts filled on my TC18. Filling added around 33lbs. to each tire. That is not much but it did make a noticeable difference. I think a loader would cause more stress on the front end than 66lbs. would.